For decades now, I hang a calendar with monthly scriptures placed on beautiful art. It gives me a way to meditate on the word, get a quick reminder of truth, and sometimes a startling wake-up call. Last month, the verse was Psalm 12:6. “The promises of the Lord are pure.”
At the beginning of November, Chuck flipped it over, and I mildly thought to myself, ‘Hmmm, that’s good. The Lord’s promises. Pure. Yep, got it.’ And went on my way.
Wow! What a month as He revealed truth in the middle of our moments.
His promises.
We bank our lives and dreams on the promises He gives. We hope — and sometimes barter — and even worse, sometimes demand — to receive God’s promises of good and happy things. We all want a pain-free, problem-free life. Yet more than a path of ease and entitlement, God promises us His Presence. Whatever we face, His presence is with us in a miraculous, tangible way.
Annnnnd. We have to ask, seek, knock, and receive the presence of God. It’s hard to have Him and everything else. Christ was born for the world, in the world. Yet not all receive His good news.
Pure.
I kept pondering the word —pure. Promises that are pure in nature, in reality.
“What do impure promises look like?” I asked the Lord.
Human. He said.
Impure promises reek of ego and agenda. We bargain: I promise you this, so you give me that. Full of childishness and My-wayness, they are anything but pure. We sometimes approach God with the same thinly veiled demand, as if He owes us . . .
Yes, we have His promises. Yes, His presence gives us air to breathe and move. But believers, this is His world. His story. Heavenly purity is identified by surrender, abandon, and sacrifice. These postures may not sell well on social media, but they are priceless in the Holy of Holies.
Do not fall prey to a watered-down Christianity where you put in your Jesus tokens and get out some ready-made, shiny, happy life.
Childbirth in a manger was bloody and painful.
Crucifixion on Calvary was bloody and painful.
Both of those unexpected outcomes were Pure Promises from God.
God loves His children so much that He manifests His goodness in the crushing and the fire of the heartaches we find ourselves in. Every single experience is wrapped in His eternal hand as He leads us into His loving arms. Then, transformed, we finally see Love’s Pure Light.
Silent night! Holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
Radiant beams from thy holy face,
With the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord, at thy birth!